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I'm blanking out on what to talk about today. It's been a very long week, not to mention month. Gah, is it ever going to end? The cynical doom-and-gloom part me says, "Don't ask that!" because it inevitably brings disaster, but the brain damaged, ever cheerful side of me is like, "Tralalalala, let's move on no matter what!"

I'm going to stop sounding like Sybil now. In lieu of a real, thoughtful TFF, here are five facts I found interesting, brought to you by Interestingfacts.org.

1) Elvis and I have something in common: his hip wiggle was caused by stage fright. He was so nervous when he began performing that his legs would shake. No one mistakes me for trying to dance when I'm speaking in public. That's why I prefer to sit.

2) Oh, that's why it's the perfect diet food. Celery has negative calories. You burn more calories chewing celery than it has in it in the first place. Kind of like ice, your body has to work to warm up the …

Sequel to ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE WITH…A GOD? and The New York Times Best Seller, ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO…A VAMPIRE?, this story has it all! Vampires, gods, and our favorite evil Mayan priests, the Maaskab.

Blurb:
When 24-year-old Penelope learns of a new miracle drug that could cure her ailing mother, it’s the answer to her prayers. Until she sees the cost. But for every door that closes, a window opens. In this case, the window calls herself Cimil, and she’s quite possibly the most insane person Penelope’s ever met. Could it be because this complete stranger just offered Penelope one million dollars to carry her wealthy brother’s baby?

Somehow I forgot to work on The Friday Five while scheduling blog posts. Guess you'll have to tolerate some rambling today.

My husband (rudely) informed me that tomorrow is the first day of fall. That is cause for throat-closing, heart-pounding, teary-eyed terror. That might seem a little dramatic, I know, but under the category of Stuff I Don't Normally Talk About (i.e. depression for $500, Alex), fall is a very depressing time. Go on, stare at my photo in confusion. What are you talking about, Allison? Fall is great. Look at all the pretty colors on the trees. The weather is cooler and pretty soon we can get out our festive sweaters and trick-or-treat and have hot dog roasts and don't forget Oktober Fest!

What you cheerful lovers of fall don't seem to realize is that those "pretty" (leaves are supposed to be green, people) leaves are going to wind up on the ground and the trees will be bare. Those cool days will turn windy and all too soon bring snowflakes. …

Seriously, Consuelo was the first name I thought of, so Consuelo it is. It appears I didn't schedule a guest for today. No matter! I have something equally as awesome. Memes. Particularly the Keep Calm and __________ memes. One for each of the fully-written novels in the Legends and Lovers Series. Enjoy!

Wow. This is one of those days that you think will never come. I don't even know what to say except a big thank you to everyone who helped me come this far.

There's my mom, of course, who gets to read the first draft when I finish a book, and who says, "When is it coming to print?"

To my husband for helping me build for building an airship. I'd still be trying to put that thing together. It's my fault it's a little lopsided, but you can hardly tell since I painted it.

My beta readers, Brenda, Lisa, Kary, Michelle, and Cindy who pushed me in the right direction. To my CP, D'Ann and knowing the magic words I wanted to hear because I was pretty worried: "There wasn't anything I'd change." I owe you ladies big time.

Thanks to everyone who listened to me cry when things didn't go as planned, who told me everything would be okay in the end. You were right.

To the Petey Monster who waits patiently while I type and edit and only gets t…

If you have eyeballs and a mouse or a touch pad or a touch screen or a scroll button, you may have noticed that today is the last day before the weekend before The Sky Pirate's Wife comes out.

Wow. I remember telling my mom, probably in early 2011, that The Treasure Hunter's Lady was the story. In the past while working on The Convict & the Cattleman, I worked hard. But I doubt I worked as hard on it as THL. The difference is, THL was funny and adventurous while C&C just didn't do it for me anymore.

You'll read in interviews and blog posts, if you follow them, that I never intended to write a series. I always planned to write stand alone novels. But by the time I finished THL, I was already imagining playing in that world again. The sequel followed, a NaNo rough draft of The Sky Pirate's Wife. It's a nice love story, but it didn't contain paranormal elements like THL. I decided to re-write it for NaNo in 2011. I like this version much better, enough…

Oh my! Yesterday UPS dropped off a couple of packages at my office. The guy working the circulation desk said, "Gee, they're sending them in your name now." You know, rather than the library's name. I was like "Nuh-uh" because the only thing that should've been coming to me should have been coming next week. A print copy of The Sky Pirate's Wife!

But big as life, there it was. So heavy! So shiny! So much hard work and many hours poured into it. So beautiful in ways you can't imagine. And you guys can't even get an e-copy until Monday! Well, happy surprise Wednesday to me! Must. Stop. Staring. At. Paperback. Version.

Secondary characters are always important in the Legends and Lovers series, because the next book is based on one of this minor characters. It started with The Treasure Hunter's Lady with Alwin van Buren, the hero of The Sky Pirate's W…

If Van Buren could be played by any Hollywood actor, it would be Chris Hemsworth. From the second I laid eyes on him, I thought, holy crap, that is Van Buren in the flesh.

Van Buren's name comes from: It's Dutch, in case you couldn't guess. Buren is a city in the Netherlands. Translated it means "neighbors". I have to be honest here and admit I didn't put a lot of thought in his name the first go-round. Basically what happened was in The Treasure Hunter's Lady, I didn't want to call the airship captain "captain" all the time, so he wound up with a name. I didn't do a whole lot of research on his name because I didn't think it would matter. Until he started telling me he wanted his own book. I'm used to his name now, I really like it, in fact and typing Van Buren many times in an MS helps…

If Sophie could be played by any Hollywood actress, I'd chose Kate Bosworth. I've said in the past that she'd make a great Romy Farrington as well, but I always did lean more toward her as a Sophie.

Sophie's name comes from: Okay, it's probably one of the most overdone names in fiction, but every time I give a character a name (or he or she tells me this is my name), I can't change it. It just doesn't feel right. I tried to change her name, honest. It didn't work. In Greek, Sophia means "wisdom". It's a ver ypopular name now and was popular in the mid-1700s. As evidenced by a ton of Regency romances with heroine named Sophie.

Using the Mary Sue Litmus Test, Sophie scored a 33. She's a border-line Sue. Apparently she needs some work, but she's well on her way to being a lovely…

Morning, kiddies! I'm actually writing this on Saturday afternoon, so pardon my cheerfulness, as I'm sure I'll be a lot more cranky on Monday.

This weekend I was part of the Not So Square Arts & Literary Festival at Mt. Vernon, Missouri. It was my first live event selling paperback copies of The Treasure Hunter's Lady. They reported before the event that they'd have about 19 authors. There were tons of crafts and lots of authors in a nice air conditioned building. Which was great because when I first got there I thought I was going to smother to death trying to set up my table. The six-foot monster folds in half and is remarkably difficult to set up by oneself thanks to that. In retrospect, I imagine it would've been easier to unfold it before I put the legs out. I will consider that in the future, possibly. Unless I forget.

Then it was unfolding and unfolding and unfolding and unfolding (no joke) the plastic tablecloth. Too much tablecloth for my table. B…

I realize this something of a repeat, I did lines from The Sky Pirate's Wife either during or right after NaNo last year. But in case you've forgotten them, here are some more to keep SPW first and foremost in your pretty little heads.

1) “How many survived?” His voice was thick with concern for his fellow shipmates. The lines on his forehead deepened as he waited for her answer.
“Seven survived, including the captain.” A wry smile tipped the patient's mouth up for a heartbeat before he grimaced in pain. “Did he now?” 2) “I really don't like this thing.” She feared if she didn't talk, the truth of what they were doing—stealing a very expensive vehicle!—would consume every thought.

3) “You're here,” she whispered against the cotton shirt. “You came for me.”A big hand cupped the back of her head and smoothed her hair. “I will always come for you.”

4) “Don't be a
chicken, boy. I've never known you to shirk away from a duty yet."

In celebration for the upcoming release of The Sky Pirate's Wife, I have a special treat for you on this fine Thursday. It's a scene from the original draft of SPW when it was set in Australia--except this scene takes place in Cairo. Because it's an airship, it moves around, that's why. You people and your questions. ... Sorry, had a Van Buren moment there.

Van Buren tried to shove Sophie's baby madness into the back of his mind. Women were programmed to think that way. For many, babies came immediately after marriage. Dreams of being forced to sell the school and live on land played on endless loops in his mind at night. No matter the consequences, he found it difficult to keep his hands off Sophie's creamy skin. Marlow paced the deck beside the helm, addressing the students as they prepared to disembark. “Pay attention, lads. This is one of the most important parts of flying you'll ever learn. The landing. Watch closely as the captain sinks Ursula Ann II…

My newest release, Riptide, is a romantic suspense novel about a woman starting over after one violent night shatters life as she knows it. She retreats to her brother’s home in the Cayman Islands hoping to have some time to think and figure out how to begin again. While there, she becomes immersed in Noah Reynold’s stalker saga and questions her sanity...what’s real? What’s simply a carryover from her past?

Care to share your favorite line(s) from your story?

Well, there are quite a few, but this one sticks out in my mind right now: “She liked the idea of 6 weeks of no-strings, mind-blowing, liquify-her-bones sex.

What's your next project?

My next project, actually just completed, is called Reckless Endangerment. It’s about a marine who returns home from Afghanistan wounded and having a hard time adjusting to civilian life and his celebrity report wife who’s immersed in a human trafficking story. I love it. It’s very emotionally cha…